Person:Mathews Frey (1)

Matthew was 16 when he came to America in 1856. It required 43 days to cross the ocean. He landed at Reading, PA and went to live with his aunt Mrs. Christina Pifer in Philadelphia. The aunt assisted him financially.

He worked in a bottle factory for $8.00 a month for two years after his arrival in the Pifer's home. He had very few clothes - one pair of overall, one over shirt and one pair of boots.

They attended the Lutheran Church in Philadelphia regularly.

On Saturday night the aunt washed Matthew's one outfit of clothing and he greased his boots so he could be dressed respectably to attend church on Sunday morning.

The Pifers moved to Peoria, IL and bought 80 acres of land, so Matthew came with them and bought 40 acres near Princeville with the money he had saved. Some accounts say that Matthew came to Peoria County with the Pifers and worded at farming for a John Eartley for seven years fro $9.00 a month and then worked for a widow in Peoria County and famed on shares.

At 27, in 1827 he moved to Waldo and bought 100 acres of land. He paid $9.00 an acre and bought it from the railroad company. He built a one room shack, that had no floor and Matthew batched in this house all alone for one year. He wrote to his brother, George Frey, a shoemaker, to come to America to live with him. George was quite well-to-do and he accepted Matthew's invitation immediately. He bought 60 acres of land and lived with Matthew in the shack for a year.

1. ↑ Mathews came to United States in 1850